"TheCanyon Diablo meteoritesinclude the many fragments of theasteroid that created BarringerCrater(Meteor Crater), Arizona, United States.Meteoriteshave been found around thecraterrim, and are named for nearbyCanyon Diablo, which lies about three to four miles west of thecrater."

TheCanyon Diablo meteoritesinclude the many fragments of the asteroidthat created Barringer Crater(Meteor Crater), Arizona, United States. Meteorites have been found around the crater rim, and are named for nearby Canyon Diablo which lies about three to four miles west of the crater.

History

The asteroid fell about 50,000 years ago.The meteorites have been known and collected since the mid-19th century and were known and used by pre-historic Native Americans. The Barringer Crater, from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, was the center of a long dispute over the origin of craters that showed little evidence of volcanism. That debate was settled in the 1950s thanks to EugeneShoemakers'study of the crater.

In 1953, Clair Cammeron Pattersonmeasured ratios of the lead isotopesin samples of the meteorite. The result permitted a refinement of the estimate of the age of the Earth to 4.550 billion years (± 70 million years).

Composition and classification

This meteorite is an iron octahadrite. Minerals reported from the meteorite include:

Cohenite - iron carbide

Chromite - iron magnesium chromium oxide

Daubréelite - iron(II) chromium sulfide

Diamond andIonsdaleite- carbon

Graphite- carbon

Haxonite - iron nickel carbide

Kamacite iron nickel alloy - the most common component.

Base Metal Sulfides

Scheidbesite - iron nickel phosphide

Taenite - iron nickel alloy

Trolite - a variety of the iron sulfide mineral pyrrhotite. The troilite in this sample is used as the standard reference for sulfurisotope ratios.

Moissanite - a variety of silicon carbide, the second hardest natural mineral.

Samples may contain troilite-graphite nodules with metal veins and small diamonds.